Venison Meatballs – Deer Meat Meatballs
Venison Meatballs are an easy, low-fat alternative to beef and an excellent use for ground venison. They can be baked, pan-fried, or air-fried, whichever is easier for you.
Why should you make venison meatballs?
If you have a hunter or, in our case, hunters in the family, it can be hard to find different recipes to make so you’re not eating the same things repeatedly. For this reason, we needed to learn how to make tasty dishes with venison consistently. There is a learning curve, no doubt. Once you have mastered it, you can create tons of tasty dishes, and venison could become an inexpensive, sustainable option for your dinner table.
Venison is much healthier than beef or pork. It has less fat and calories than other red meat options like beef or pork.
Because venison has so little fat, some dishes with venison benefit from adding a bit of fattier meat, such as these meatballs, they are still tasty without adding additional fat, but the mouthfeel can suffer.
As a general rule of thumb, slow-cooked venison recipes do not require extra fat. Faster cooking techniques (except the loins and tenderloins) require some additional fat content.
Meatballs are one of those cases. This recipe for venison meatballs would work equally well with other wild game meat. Elk, moose, caribou, or antelope will all work as they belong to the ungulate family.
What you need
- Ground Deer Meat: We use a coarse grind for the venison so it doesn’t overcook.
- Ground Pork or Beef Trimmings: Use a fine grind for the pork meat or beef trimmings.
- Grated Onion: Grating the onion gives you the onion flavor without large chunks of onion in the meatballs. Substitute onion powder if you are out of onion, but fresh onion is best.
- Grated Garlic: You grate the garlic for the same reason you grate the onion. Grating it gives you the flavor without large chunks in your meatballs. Again, substitute garlic powder if you have no fresh garlic.
- Eggs: Use fresh, large eggs. We prefer brown, organic, free-range eggs.
- Milk: You need a splash of milk to hold the meatballs together.
- Bread Crumbs: You can use fresh or dried breadcrumbs. These act as a binding agent to hold the balls together.
- Parsley: If you have fresh parsley, use that. If not, substitute dried parsley.
- Oregano: If you have fresh oregano, use that. If not, substitute dried oregano.
- Thyme: If you have fresh thyme, use that. If not, substitute dried thyme.
- Parmesan Cheese: Add the Parmesan to make Italian meatballs for sauce. If not, you can omit it.
How to Make Venison / Deer Meatballs
Step One:
Add the venison and pork or beef to a large mixing bowl.
Step Two:
Grate two tablespoons of onion directly over the meat to capture the juices.
Step Three:
Grate the garlic over the meat, too.
Step Four:
Whisk the eggs in a small bowl.
Step Five:
Add the eggs, breadcrumbs, and herbs to the ground meat in the bowl. If you’re making meatballs for Italian sauce, add Parmesan cheese.
Step Six:
Mix gently but well. Don’t overwork the meat, or it will become dry and tough.
Step Seven:
Form the meat into balls. An ice cream scoop or cookie scoop works well to portion meat. (Affiliate links)
Step Eight:
Bake at 350°F 40 minutes until golden and internal temperature is over 165°F.
If you use your air fryer for large meatballs, fry them at 350°F for about 8 minutes. Flip them and continue to air fry for another 8 minutes until the internal temperature is 165°F, measured with an instant-read meat thermometer. If you cook them in sauce after browning, cook them to 140-145°F. Here are instructions for small meatballs.
You can also fry these meatballs over medium-high heat. If you fry the meatballs in a skillet, they will get flat sides and not be round. Fry them in oil until browned, turn them with tongs, and fry them on both sides. The oil should be deep enough to reach halfway up the ball. Drain them on a wire rack or paper towels.
What to do With Leftovers
Storage: Store leftover meatballs in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: Meatballs freeze well. You can either freeze them cooked or uncooked. Uncooked balls will have a longer freezer storage time- up to six months. Freeze the balls on a parchment or waxed paper lined, rimmed baking sheet for 3-4 hours. Then, transfer to freezer bags or containers and freeze.
Frequently Asked Questions
The internal temperature is 165°F. Don’t cook them all the way through if you plan to continue cooking them in the sauce. Cook them to about 140-145°F. Ensure they are 165°F before consuming.
Technically no. But the texture, flavor, and mouthfeel are markedly better with added fat.
The sweet spot is 20-25% fat to venison ratio. You can go as high as 50-50%, but there is no need to go this high.
Yes, you can use diced onion and garlic, but sautée until the onion is translucent. You don’t want to add raw onion or garlic to your meatballs. Allow them to cool to room temperature before adding them to the meat mixture.
You can make these meatballs gluten-free using gluten-free breadcrumbs or crushed corn-flakes, corn or rice chex cereal, or cornmeal.
Pro Tips for Your Success
- Add fresh (stale crustless bread ground up) breadcrumbs to the milk for the best binding. Let the crumbs soak up the milk. Soaking ensures the crumbs are soft, and the paste they form will hold your meatballs together. You can add dried breadcrumbs to the milk, but they won’t bind as well as fresh.
- As we stated previously, work the meat mixture gently. Then roll the balls, and just get the meat mixture so that it just holds together. Don’t overwork them. If the meat is overworked, it will be dry and tough.
- This recipe uses any venison, deer, elk, moose, or antelope.
- Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment before baking, saving cleanup time.
How to serve them
- Top a big bowl of spaghetti or your favorite pasta and spaghetti sauce.
- Use them for meatball subs with added sauce and melted mozzarella cheese.
- Make appetizer meatballs with your favorite sauces.
Meal Prep tip: Make a double batch. Place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Freeze for 3 hours or so. Add the balls to a freezer bag. Put them in the freezer before or after cooking for an easy dinner for another night.
Other delicious venison recipes
- Corned Venison Recipe
- Venison Teriyaki Stir Fry
- Venison Enchiladas
- Venison Breakfast Sausage
- Venison Stew.
Here are all of the tasty venison recipes on Binky’s Culinary Carnival
More ground venison recipes
- venison burger
- venison chili
- shepherd’s pie
- ground venison tacos
- venison meatloaf
Tools I Use to Make Venison Meatballs
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Venison Meatballs
Ingredients
- 1.5 pounds ground venison meat
- 1/2 pound pork, ground
- 1/2 small Onion or substitute onion powder
- 3 cloves garlic or substitute garlic powder
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoon Milk
- 1.5 teaspoon parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
Instructions
- Grate onion and garlic right over bowl with the meat in it.1.5 pounds ground venison meat, 1/2 pound pork, ground, 1/2 small Onion, 3 cloves garlic
- Whisk eggs. Add the rest of ingredients to bowl and mix, gently, but well by hand.2 large eggs, 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs, 3 tablespoon Milk, 1.5 teaspoon parsley, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, dried, 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt or sea salt, 2 teaspoons black pepper
- Form meatballs. For dinner meatballs, portion meat with ice cream scoop. For appetizer meatballs, portion with cookie scoop.
- Place on ungreased, rimmed baking sheet, so the meatballs are not touching. Line the sheet with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
- Bake them in 350°F for 35-40 minutes, until browned and temperature is over 165°F. If you continue to cook them in sauce afterward, cook them to 140-145°F.
- Serve with your favorite sauce.
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how about a venison meatloaf recipe?
I’m working on it. I have a great recipe, but every time I shoot it, I hate the pictures, so I always “Wait until next year, lol. i’ll get it on this Fall Carolyn!